Holiday Truce 2019
by Dp-Marvel94
Summary: For @enigmaris on Tumblr Having finally been accepted to college, all Danny wants to do is live the college experience and study to get his dream job at NASA. But the ghosts are not happy with his new status as Ghost Prince and seem to want to do everything they can to get on his nerves. Featuring dual/space obsession AU


"Do you have everything sweetie? All your textbooks? Rain boots? A jacket? I know it's supposed to be hot for several more weeks but it's better to have one, just in case." Danny's mom asked, brow furrowed with a little worry.

The eighteen year old rolled his eyes. "Yes Mom. I'm sure I packed everything."

Barely registering his comment, the mother continued. "And you packed plenty of ectoplasm, right? You need to make sure you're actually feeding your ghost half, mister. And a few thermos? Did you pack any other weapons? Oh and make sure you have the Fenton phones."

Danny nodded and opened his mouth to reply but before he could, his dad shoved a large ectogun into his hands. Dad's eyes shown with excitement. " Here you go son, the Fenton P18 ectogun! Completely harmless to you and sure to give any nasty ghosty a run for their money."

The half ghost eyed the gun warily. "I'm pretty sure I can't have a weapon this big at school, Dad." He handed the gun off to the other man. "Besides, I don't need it, not when I have built in weapons." He waved his hands, reminding his parents of his ectoblasts. "And I shouldn't have many problems with ghosts anyway, with how quiet everything's been for the last few months, since learning about me being…" Danny trailed off, frowning at the end.

Dad also frowned down at the ectogun, looking a little dejected. "You do have a point son." He then carefully put the weapon down and with a subtle smile, pated Danny on the back. "I guess you won't be fighting ghosts that much, not while living the college life. Your mother and I are so proud of you."

Mom also smiled. "You've done so well since you finally told us about your powers, getting your grades up and getting into college. Even getting a scholarship!" The woman started tearing up. "We are so proud, honey." She reached forward and hugged her son.

Danny gratefully accepted the hug. "Thanks Mom and Dad." He smiled as he felt his Dad's arms also encircle the two of them, in a group hug.

The two parents pulled away after a few moments. Mom wiped her eyes while Dad stated. "We should probably get going Mads, give Danno a little time to unpack before orientation tonight."

Though she looked a little sad, Mom nodded. "Feel free to call us if you need anything at all Danny. It's really not that far, only 45 minutes. We can be here anytime you need us sweetie."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Danny nodded. "Okay Mom. I'm going to be fine."

"I know you are." She reached forward to ruffle his hair. "My baby's grown up so much." This elicited a groan from Danny who blushed. Behind Mom, Dad chuckled "Okay, okay. We're going."

The parents finally walked to the door of Danny's dorm room. With Danny standing in the doorway, they exchanged another hug. "I love you, Danny." "Love you, son."

"I love you, too." The halfa muttered, sincerely.

After pulling away, and Mom wiping her eyes again, the parents walked away, heading back to the Fenton RV and back to Amity Park. Danny closed the door and sighed in relief. As much as he loved his parents, them hovering over him was kinda annoying. Granted, though they had been a little…overbearing since he told them his secret at the beginning of junior year of high school, Danny had never regretted that decision, especially since it lead to his parents meeting and taking in his clone Danielle. Though it had been difficult at first, with a lot of guilt, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings on both sides, his parents quickly learned to listen and strive to understand. Soon they became eager to help their son: inventing devices to let Danny quickly and easily capture ghosts with no danger of being hurt himself, making ectoplasmic concoctions to help him healer faster and sleep better, helping Danny train with and understand his powers better, training the halfa in self-defense and martial arts to strengthen his human half, offering backup and support during ghost fights, and finally capturing ghosts in Danny's sted during school hours and late at night.

Finally having his parent's support did wonders for Danny's health and well-being. Finally he could actually focus on school and get his work done. The teenager started thriving in school, quickly pulling his grades up enough that a year and a half later, he received several college acceptance letters with even a scholarship to the school he was now attending.

At that last thought, Danny smiled widely at the assortment of bags and boxes in front of him. The halfa could scarcely believe he had gotten here. A mix of excitement and worry mixed in his gut; a thousand hopes about potential majors (engineering, or physics, or astronomy or…), future classes, making new friends, and joining clubs swam in Danny's mind coupled with worries of missing this town and his family and friends still in Amity Park, of the safety of his town from ghostly threats.

With a sigh, Danny pushed those worries down; with how quiet Amity Park had been in the recent months in terms of ghost activity, his town would be just fine. And hopefully college life would also be ghost free (except for him) as well.

College life was wonderful of the first very weeks. The halfa absolutely loved his classes, his new friends, and his new found freedom. And he loved not having to deal with any ghosts for the time being…especially since a certain revelation. Being able to go to class, study, hanging out with friends, go to club events and outings, and even sleep the night through without ghosts interrupting was glorious.

A seemingly normal, ghost free, Thursday found Danny volunteering at a soup kitchen with some of his new friends. One of the clubs he joined in the first week at college did this weekly and to Danny's great surprise, he found that helping people in such an ordinary, mundane way really satisfied his protective obsession.

He smiled as he handed one of their patrons a sandwich and a bowl of soup. "Here you go ma'am."

The woman beamed. "Thank you, young man."

Danny nodded as she walked to her seat, a warm feeling welling in his chest. Man, this felt surprisingly good and right. Then again, it made sense. Despite what the citizens of Amity Park and even his friends thought, Danny's more well known 'hero obsession' wasn't actually to be the hero. He had little desire to be acknowledged and revered as a hero. His obsession wasn't even to protect his friends and family or even his town. It was much simpler, more basic. He really just wanted to help people.

Danny's thoughts were interrupted by a thud from the stockroom behind the kitchen. At the same time, his ghost sense activated, a blue puff of mist exiting his mouth. The half ghost stiffened. Which ghost was here? With a small spike of panic, Danny dropped the landle he was holding. Ignoring the questions from his friends and classmates, he jogged through the kitchen and to the backroom where he threw open the door.

A yell sounded. "I am the box ghost!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Seriously! I thought you guys were leaving me alone!"

The blue skinned ghost waved his arms, as if trying to appear threatening. "Beware! Even as the ghost prince, you will feel my cardboard doom!"

Shaking his head, Danny whipped out his thermos. With a press of the button, it activated, sucking the ghost in. Sighing, he capped the thermos. Then the halfa quickly scanned the room, nose wrinkling as he noticed the scattered boxes. "Really? And he had to make a mess?"

"What the heck was that?!" The statement startled Danny who turned his head to the speaker. It was one of his new friends, a girl from North Carolina.

Danny crossed his arms, trying to appear casual though really hoping that she hadn't heard anything incriminating. "Just the box ghost. He's harmless."

Her mouth opened and closed as her eyes widened. Finally she spoke. "So it's true." Danny tilted his head questioningly as she continued. "People from around here, locals, say that ghosts are real. They show up sometimes and wreck things."

Danny nodded. "Yeah. It's true."

Her eyebrow raised. "You're from around here right? Amity Park?"

The half ghost narrowed his eyes, suspiciously. "Yeah. What about it?"

"So you're used to ghost." She eyed the thermos. "Is that what you used to make the ghost go away?"

"Yeah. My parents made it. They're ghost hunters." He mentally winced, waiting for his parents, his family to inevitably be called crazy. But his new friend surprised him.

"That's so cool!" The girl's eyes lit up as she rambled off questions. "How did they make that? Do they make other things to hunt ghosts? How do they feel about these supernatural invaders? What other ghost's show up all the time?"

"Hopefully none." The halfa muttered with crossed arms. His friend furrowed her brow as Danny changed the subject. "Come on. We should clean this up."

The pair frowned at the mess and started putting the boxes back in silence. Despite his friend's curious and excited attitude, Danny remained in a sour mood for several minutes. He had really hoped that being away from Amity Park, coupled with his new status as Ghost Prince, would reduce the amount of ghosts that showed up looking to fight him. But he apparently still had to deal with the Box Ghost at least. As his friend continued asking him questions in genuine curiosity, his mood slowly lifted. Hey, at least it was just the Box Ghost who, though annoying, was generally harmless and didn't destroy that much property. If he was the only ghost Danny had to deal with, he would be just fine.

It turned out, the Box Ghost was not the only ghost Danny had to deal with.

Danny sat his bed, studying for his favorite class, Introduction to Astronomy. He smiled at the pictures of different types of galaxies in his textbook. He had already known what the different kinds were when he was in Elementary school. But it was exhilarating, learning more in depth about how gravity, chemical composition, star formation, and a dozen other things he hadn't even known to think about affected galaxies formation, structure, and composition.

The halfa's bright eyes scanned over the text as his smile grew. "Hey Tuck." He called getting his roommate's attention as he started to ramble. "The book says here that all the matter in the Milky Way- the stars, gas and dust - all of it orbits the center of the galaxy at 220 kilometers per second. 220 kilometers per second! That's so dang fast! And the rate is the same for all stars, even at different distances from the core! That means something, probably a shell of dark matter, is surrounding the Milky Way and making that rate the same!"

Danny's eyes start to glow a ghostly green as his excitement grows. "Can you just imagine it, Tucker? There's all that stuff out there that we can't see, can't record yet. Ahhh there's just, just so much we don't know! And so much we could learn! Who knows what out there?! What we could find? I mean just four years ago, they actually managed to observe gravitational waves for the first time. And that first black hole picture was taken, what less than a years ago! Ahh, uhh It's so much! This is all so cool!" Danny waved his hands in excitement as his ramble dissolved into excited sounds.

Tucker laughed at his best friend. "Dude your freckles are glowing again."

At that statement, Danny blushed covering his face. "No, no they're not. My freckles don't do that."

"Yes they do." Tucker chuckled. "They glow and look like little constellations."

Danny remained blushing in an odd mix of happiness and embarrassment. Before he could respond though, his ghost sense went off. He stiffened, though his freckles remained glowing. With barely a thought, the half ghost transformed so he was now floating with his hair waving weightlessly. The green glow of his freckles increased as a swirling green and purple galaxy pattern overtook his suit.

Just then, a robotic ghost with a flaming mohawk phased into the room. "Welp. I will have your pelt…"

Before the ghost could finish his proclamation, Danny slammed into and grabbed him. "Really Skulker! I was studying!"

The pair phased through the wall right after Danny heard a shout from Tucker. The fight was a blur of motion and words. "Hey Skulker. Did you know in space no one can hear you scream because there's no air and sound waves need a media like air to travel through for someone to be able to hear it."

Skulker growled at the comment but Danny continued rambling, undeterred. "From what we can observe, there are about 2 trillion galaxies. That's trillion, with a T. And that's just what we can see."

With a powerful shot, the head of Skulker's suit came flying off. Seeing the ghost's tiny true form wiggle to escape, Danny reached for the thermos but did not find it on his belt.

"Here!" The half ghost turned his head to find Tucker, who threw the thermos to him. "You forgot this."

"Oh, yeah. Guess I was kinda distracted." Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, while capturing Skulker in the thermos.

Tucker just laughed. "It's all good man. I love seeing you fight ghosts in space mode. Annoying Skulker with space facts, that's hilarious."

The halfa also laughed, his freckles glowing brightly as he finally noticed he was outside, on a clear night. He looked up, marveling at the star with his jaw dropped. "Woah. I've seen this thousands of times but it still takes my breath away." He whispered, wistfully.

Whistling, Tucker also looked up, marveling at the stars…and at seeing his best friend so happy. After a few moments, he turned to walk back towards the dorm. "I'll see you later, Danny. Don't stay out too late."

Danny nodded but continued looking up. It really was beautiful.

Eventually, Danny managed to drag himself inside as his body started to tire. With the elation of watching the stars in space mode falling, he thought back to fighting Skulker, still a little salty that the ghost had interrupted his studying/space rant, though it did lead to him actually star gazing, the first time he had deliberately done that in months. So maybe it wasn't that bad. But then again…Skulker was the second ghost that had shown up while he was at college, after the past year had been very quiet. Hopefully this wasn't the start of a pattern …and Danny probably just jinxed himself, didn't he?

The next week was pretty quiet on the ghost front, until Johnny 13 and his shadow broke all of the mirrors on campus.

"Really Johnny?! Every stinking mirror!" Danny floated over the soccer field, hopefully very far away from anything else breakable.

"You know how bad luck follows me around pipsqueak." Johnny sneered.

The halfa rolled his eyes. "I am literally taller than you now. And I don't care about your 'bad luck.' You need to keep that far away from anything having to do with me."

Johnny's frown deepened. "I just wanted to blow off some steam, kid. Me and Kitty had a fight and I needed to cut loss, ya know?"

Danny crossed his arms. "Well you can cut loss somewhere else. Just no destroying property."

"You can't make a leopard change its spots, princy."

At the nickname, the half ghost wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes. "Don't make me put you in the thermos."

Johnny put up his hands. "Okay. Whatever, your royal highness." The last words dripping with sarcasm as Johnny got on his bike and drove away.

Once the ghost was gone, Danny sighed, putting his head in his hands. It couldn't get much worse, could it?

Ya know, Danny really needed to stop thinking things like that. A few nights later, after a long study session for his astronomy test, the half ghost was awoken by the sound of teeth chattering.

"Daaaa…aannnyyy. I…I thought you…you had yyyyyyour ice ppppoooowers under controoolll, man."

Danny gasped as a puff of mist exited his lips. Looking over at a shivering Tucker, the half ghost shivered himself, taking note of the ice crystalized on his hair and lashes. Man, it was cold, enough that the normally cold insensitive halfa could actually feel the chill. Danny wrinkled his nose at the revelation, feeling that his core wasn't active. "It's not me, Tuck. I'm not doing this."

Tucker pulled his comforter more tightly around himself. "But…but this isn't naaatural. It's goottt to be beeee another ghooost."

At that statement, Danny sat up. Just then he heard several screams and a banging noise. After transforming the halfa floated into the hall. As he pasted a corner, a ghostly voice echoed through the hall. "Will you be my friend?"

Danny frowned, preparing to berate the ghost for freezing his dorm and interrupting his sleep. At the same time, a door slammed closed as a pair of students in their pajamas sprinted out of the dorm and away from the ghost. The halfa sighed, relieved that any students were out of harms way, at least for the time being.

'We talked about this Kempler! You can't just freeze things! Humans are really sensitive to temperature! You could hurt or even kill someone!"

The halfa's annoyed rant was cut off by a wirrbuling cry from the now teary eyed ghost. "I want someone to be my friend."

Danny frowned. Though the scene pulled at his tear strings, his exhaustion and annoyance won out. He grabbed his thermos, which was luckily attached to his belt this time. "You're going back to the Ghost Zone. Okay Kempler. I can't let you hurt anyone."

As the beam activated and started sucking in the ghost, Kempler let out a sob, producing another wave of ice that coated the floor. Then he was gone. Without a word, Danny capped the thermos, noting that the ice was slowly disappearing. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too much of a mess to clean up and no one was hurt, the worse they received being some cold hands and some lost sleep. Danny returned to his bed, praying that this would be the last of ghost attacks for a while.

It seemed Danny's prayer would not be answered. Within three weeks, he was at the end of his rope, with repeated obnoxious ghost attacks. He'd had to leave during the middle of his astronomy test because the Lunch Lady showed up at the cafeteria. Apparently she was highly offended by the Thanksgiving meal the college planned to serve; how dare they actually offer vegan options?! He beat her quickly but not before several students almost got crushed by falling turkeys (a 20 pound bird can do a lot of damage) and Danny himself got covered in sweet potatoes and green bean casserole.

Other attacks by ghostly animals, Aragon's rampage of one of the science buildings, Technus trying to steal all of the computers in the computer lab, and a particularly nasty haunting by a ghost that looked a lot like a 14 year old Tucker Foley left Danny exhausted by the time exams came around. He was still doing decently in his classes luckily but dealing with repeated attacks that filed his thermos and lead to almost nightly trips back to Amity Park to empty it (he really needed to learn to make his own portals) left the halfa wanting to pull his hair out.

The last straw came during a rare night off right before exams. A few hours after dark, Danny meet with his clone sister, Danielle, to stargaze in the park.

The younger teenager pointed into the sky. "And that's Ursa Major, right?"

Danny smiled. "Right sis."

Dani put her hands behind her head. "So what's your favorite constellation?"

"Oh that's easy. It's Orion."

"Which one is that?" Dani asked, turning her head towards the other halfa.

Danny pointed towards the east. "See those three stars in a straight line."

The girl turned back towards the sky. Her eyes widened. "Yeah, I see it."

"That's called Orion's belt. The star on the bottom end is called Alnitak and the horsehead nebula is just to the right of it."

"Horsehead?" Dani's eyebrow rose skeptically.

" 's really cool looking! I'll show you a picture later. It's awesome!" At the statement, the dusting of freckles on Danny's nose took on a greenish glow.

The younger halfa laughed. "Okay. Tell me more about Orion."

"Oh, right. So from this angle, Orion looks like he's laying on his side. You see the triangle of stars to the left of it?" Danny pointed again. "The highest and brightest is the beginning of Orion's arm. The middle of the triangle is his head and the bottom one is the start of his other arm, which extends to his club." Dani nodded as the other half ghost continued. "The star on the top I pointed out is called Bellatrix"

"Like from Harry Potter?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "That star was named first. But technically yes."

"Are there any other stupidly named stars?"

"Well… the one leading to his club is called Betelgeuse."

"BeetleJuice! Really Danny!?" Exclaimed the girl as she giggled.

"Yes, And don't say it again. Knowing our luck he's real and it would summon him."

Dani's face morphed into a shit-eating grin. "Beetle-" She quickly said, cutting herself off.

"Dani!" The older halfa jabbed her in the side with his elbow. "Seriously! Don't say it."

"Beeeeetleeeeejuuuu- guy." She giggled drawing out the word.

He rolled his eyes but started laughing all the same. After a few moments the laughter quieted. Danny wiped his eyes. "Can I show you the rest of Orion now?"

Dani nodded.

"Anyway, Bellatrix leads to the lion that he's holding and beating with his club." He pointed waving his hand left to right to illustrate the line of stars. "There's six stars. They form a kinda semicircle."

"Oh, yeah. I can definitely see what you're talking about." She smiled.

Danny grinned in response. "And that's not all. See that bright star, right of the belt. That's Rigel, the end of Orion's right leg." He motioned to above that star. "And there's the other leg."

"Dang, Orion's a big constellation. I totally think I can see it now. It looks like a guy holding a bow." She paused. "Why is this your favorite though?"

Danny smiled at her. "When I was a kid, I loved it because it was the first constellation I learned to find by myself. And Orion was a hunter, like Mom and Dad. Back when I thought Mom and Dad being ghost hunters was the coolest thing ever."

"Really? You thought that?" She raised her eyebrows.

Danny nodded. "Yeah. I thought their job was the coolest." His voice turned quiet as he thought of the conundrum; though he loved his parent's ghost hunting as a kid, he was embarrassed by it as a young teenager and now wanted to not deal with ghosts in general, to live a normal life. He shook the thought away, feeling the corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he looked back up at the constellation. "But this is the best part." He pointed space between Orion's belt and the end of his legs. "If you look really close, you can barely see the Orion Nebula."

Dani squinted. "I think I see it."

The older halfa continued, the glow of his freckles increasing. "It's one of the brightest nebulae visible from Earth and it's the closest. Even then it's over 1300 light years away. 1300 light years Dani! When that light started traveling here, it was the dark ages! The crusades hadn't even happened yet."

"Woah." Dani's eyes brightened. "Wow…that's …wow."

Danny laughed at her eloquent response. "Yeah. It's mind blowing, right?" His eyes glowed neon green again as his freckles light up. "That's the case with all of these stars. They're so far away that some of these stars have reached the end of their life cycle. They've collapsed into a white dwarf by now. Or exploded into a supernova, maybe then collapsing into a neutron star… or even a black hole. But they're gone now, they've changed. But here we are, looking into the past, getting a glimpse of what they were."

Despite the somber tone, Danny's eyes were wide with wonder. His clone's face also reflected that wonder, her eyes lit with ghostly light and a few green freckles illuminated.

After a few minutes of staring up in silent awe, Danny turned towards his sister. "Which one is your favorite?"

Dani's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Your favorite constellation?"

Her mouth formed an O shape. Then her lips curled into an excited smile. "I don't know! I mean I don't know all that many and Orion which you showed me was so cool! Could you teach me some more?"

Danny scooted a little closer, putting one arm around her. "Of course Dani." He beamed at the thought of sharing this passion with her. Though Danielle didn't seem to have a Space Obsession like him, she definitely was interested and happy to learn anything new.

The next thirty minutes passed quickly as the older halfa excitedly showed his younger clone several constellations. The whole time, his face shone with joy as Dani's excitement and the presence of ghostly constellation freckles grew on both their faces. The pair was shocked out for their happy rev by activation of their ghost sense.

Twin clouds of blue mist exited both halfa's mouths, illicting a groan from Danny. "No! Seriously! We were actually having a good time!"

After both halfas sat up, Dani patted her brother on the back. "Let's go see who it is. Hopefully it's just the Box Ghost."

Both half ghosts transformed and started floating. Suddenly noise rang through the trees- roaring music and ecstatic yells. Blinking white lights blazed on and the two siblings followed the loud sounds. Danny emerged through the trees first, stopping in his tracks. In front of him lay a massive crowd of people in front of a makeshift stage.

"Who do you love?!" A shout rang out and Danny growled in annoyance, realizing who it was.

"Ember! Ember!" The crowd chanted. While they sounded excited, the face were blank and vacant. The teenagers and young adults shivered in the cold, many in thin pajamas, though they made no effort to warm themselves. No rubbing hands together, no huddling in groups, no pulling garments more tightly around themselves for more covering.

Danny's eyes blazed with anger. "Ember!" His shout reverb, louder than the crowd.

Beside him, even Dani covered her ears as the rockstar ghost set her eyes on the pair. "It's the dipstick, and the smaller dipstick." She stated flatly.

"Hey! I'm not that small." Dani complained.

While normally Danny would be amused by his clone's banter, he remained silent, face hard. Within seconds he was in front of Ember. "Get out of here." His voice growled low.

The blue skinned ghost wrinkled her nose. "I don't think so. I have this adoring crowd here. They were looking forward to an impromptu Christmas show. Isn't that right?!" She yelled the last part.

"Ember! Ember! Ember!" The chant returned.

Narrowing his eyes, Danny shoot a powerful ectoplast at the ghost, who was thrown back into her drummer's drum set. He prepared to take another shot but was interrupted by one of Ember's bandmates hitting him over the head… with his bass. The instrument broke, crashing into the ground

"No you idiot!" Ember cried. "That's not how we use instruments as weapons!" Her distressed expression changed as the corners of her mouth turned up. "Let me show you how it's done."

With a flourish, the rocker held one hand up, displaying her pick. Then she grinned as she strummed the guitar. Visible pink sound waves vibrated from the instrument. Danny, who was still dazed from being hit in the head, tried to dodge the waves but his body was too sluggish. However, to his great surprise, a black and white figure slammed into him, knocking him out of the path. But the trees behind him, in the path of the wave, were not so lucky, tumbling down at the impact.

With wide, concerned eyes, Danny looked at his rescuer. Then he looked over the crowd of brainwashed people. "We need to get them out of here. She's being a lot more destructive than normal."

Dani's brow also furrowed with worry. "But what about Ember?"

The older halfa narrowed his eyes. "I'll deal with her, you get people out of here."

"But…" The girl started to argue but Danny cut her off.

"I've fought Ember more time than you have, and I'll be able to fight better if I know people are safe because you're looking out from them."

Dani frowned but ultimately nodded. "Fine. But I'm going after her as soon as the last person is out of the clearing."

Floating up, Danny gave her half a smile. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

The pair parted with the older halfa confronting the blue skinned ghost. "Hey Ember!"

She smiled, tuning her guitar. "So you're back in the show, babypop. Where the mini you?"

He sprung in front of Ember, raising a fist. "Taking care of the people you brainwashed. Also 1, Dani's not me. And 2," The punch finally connected as he grinned. "She's not that small, finally got her growth spurt."

The punch knocked the rocker ghost back. Materializing another pick, she prepared to strum again. But this time, Danny formed a shield in front of himself, protecting himself from the attack. He flew up. "Come and get me!"

The flaming-haired ghost soon followed, chasing him up until the stage and crowd below were the size of ants. Ember looked down. "Getting me away from my adoring fans." She clicked her tongue. "I don't know whether to be annoyed or impressed."

Danny scoffed. "More like trying to minimize the damage. Why do you always have to cause such a mess?"

"Why do you always spoil everyone's fun?!" She played a cord, knocking the halfa away.

"It's not fun if people are getting hurt!" He shot another ectoblast.

"Please, I'm not hurting anyone. Just making sure everyone hears and loves my music. They even get a good show. Who's hurt?!" Her flaming hair increased flickering as she grew angry.

Danny responded in kind. "You're hypnotizing people! They don't get a choice!"

Ember's nostrils flared but then the corners of her lips turned up. "Speaking of hypnotizing, you remember the first time we fought?"

The halfa's eyebrows rose at the sudden change in tone but the ghost ignored his puzzled look. "It was hilarious, watching you fall over yourself, in love with your friend, that goth girl. You were so pathetic."

Part of Danny wanted to shrivel up, embarrassed at the memory but the rest stayed angry. He didn't respond as Ember continued. "That love song worked so well. I think we should try another one."

The half ghost's eyes widened in alarm but before he could dodge, Ember was strumming a somber tune. She sang, her voice trembling with sorrow. Before Danny knew it, all the annoyance and stress he had felt in the last months and the anger he was feeling now, welled up and shifted, deepening into an intense sadness. He started crying instantly, realizing that what he was feeling now wasn't that different, was the root of what he had been feeling for months.

As his vision turned blurry, he barely registered the triumphant look on Ember's face. With a wicked grin, she started flying down, back towards her adoring crowd. But she didn't make it far. An ice blue light suddenly shone behind her and the ghost froze, literally. The specter, now encased in ice, dropped like a rock but was drawn into a thermos. Through tear filled eyes, Danny saw his younger sister capping the thermos.

"Ice beats fire, bitch." She sneered. Then her face softened, eyes widening in concern at the sight of her brother. "Danny are you okay?"

At first, he tried to nod yes, denying the ache he was feeling. Then a sob broke free of his lips. The halfa pinched his eyes shut and furiously shook his head. As he hung listlessly in the air, the weight of his emotions seemed to drag him down until he was actually sinking. Dani flew to his side, putting an arm around him and getting lowering both of them down until both half ghosts sat on the now abandoned stage.

Sniffing, Danny tried to hold back sobs while the other halfa wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Man, what did she do to you? I've never seen you this upset." Then her eyes widened in fear. "You're not hurt, are you?"

He shook his head and Dani sighed in relief. "That's good. Can you tell me what happened though?"

He opened his mouth, meaning to tell her about Ember's song but other words - his annoyance, his anxieties, his fears - came pouring out. He puts up his hands, tone a mixture of anger and anxious desperation. "I'm so tired of ghosts! Since I started college, they won't leave me alone! They keep showing up and breaking things! And then I have to deal with it." He looked down, voice turning quiet. "And I'm exhausted. I can't sleep for ghosts attacks, keep missing class, don't have time to study. And now I'm scared that I'll do horrible at exams because I can't seem to focus when I do have time because I'm worried a ghost will show up and hurt someone! What if someone here or in Amity Park gets hurt by a ghost because I wasn't there to stop it. Or I'm not fast or strong enough to save them." He paused to take a breath, gnawing his lip. "But…at the same time, I hate ghost hunting. I don't want to follow in Mom and Dad's footsteps. I don't want to just be Danny Phantom. I want to be normal!" A tears fell down his face. "I want to go to college and actually get to enjoy it. I want to study so I can actually get a job I want. I've dreamed about this since I was a kid. And now I'm scared that I can't do it." Danny wrung his hands. "I mean, when I became a halfa, it almost gave it up. There's no way I'd be able to pass the physicals to become an actual astronaut. But then I thought, if I can just work for Nasa, be a part of the mission but not actually go to space, then I can be happy. I mean, I've already been up there and can fly up anytime I want, ya know. But now I'm scared that with all the ghosts messing with me again, I can't even do that." He turned watery eyes to her. "What am I going to do?"

His speech trailed off as he glanced as Dani, watery eyes searching, asking for some advice, some word of comfort. The other halfa had spent the whole speech listening intently. Now she bit her lip, clearly debating what to say. Putting an arm around him, Dani took his hand. "I don't think you're going to like what I have to say but I'm going to say it anyway." She sighed. "I don't think you can get away from the ghosts. Between being part of a family of ghost hunters and part ghost yourself, ghosts are always going to be a part of your life. And…would you really want them completely gone anyway? Dealing with ghosts is part of what makes you, you. You wouldn't be Danny, Fenton or Phantom, without that."

At the words, Danny visibly withdrew, shoulder's hunched. "I…. I guess you have a point." The next words came out lifeless and dejected. "There is no escape."

At those words, Dani frowned. Trying to comfort her brother, she leaned in a little closer. "But that doesn't mean you can't do something to make…. All this more bearable."

Danny tilted his head, some of the sadness in his eyes being replaced by interest. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't instead of beating up ghosts, or yelling at them to go away, you actually talk to them?"

He shook his head. "Don't you think I've tried that? I've tried reasoning with them. It never works."

Dani raised a finger. "But…. it's not about reasoning. It's about authority." At Danny's questioning look, she continued. "I'm talking about actually using your status as ghost king."

Danny opened his mouth to argue. "But I don't…."

She cut him off. "I know what you're going to say. You don't want to be ghost king, you don't want to use that authority, that power. Well suck it. You are king and that's just how it is."

"Ghost Prince." He cut in frowning. "I'm not king yet."

"Same difference. The point is you have authority. You can actually get the ghosts to listen to you."

"But…I don't want to dictate or lord over them."

"That's not what this is. You just need to lay out some boundaries and rules with consequences. And you don't have to be super hands on with this either. You have advisors, right? And I'm sure Walker would be happy to deal with anyone breaking any rules."

At that point, Danny remained silent, mulling over her words. As difficult as they were to hear, she did have a point. Though he did not like the idea of involving Walker, her proposal had merit. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll hold a meeting and make them listen."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "You're actually going to listen to me for once?"

He dropped his jaw in mock offense. "When do I not listen to you?" She rolled her eyes and he sighed. "Seriously though, I trust you and you made a good point. Of course, I'd listen." He goodnaturedly bumped her shoulder. "When did you get so smart?"

She smirked. "I'm pretty sure I was born this smart."

He laughed and the pair sat in silence for a few moments. "So…do you want to learn some more constellations?"

Dani's eyes lit up.

A few days later, Danny found himself floating in front of imposing black structure. The half ghost wrung his hands as memories of the last time he was here ran through his mind. He'd almost died resealing the Ghost King into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. In that moment, he'd only thought about his friends and family, the safety of his family. But that action had done more than free both realms from a future ruled by that tyrant; it had made Danny the rightful ruler of the ghosts.

A cough beside him drew Danny away from that thought. "So this is Parish's keep?" Danielle, who'd offered to go with him for the upcoming meeting, asked. Danny nodded. Then his eyes widened slightly as she added. " I guess it's Phantom's Keep now, since it's yours."

He turned to face the other halfa. "Yeah. I guess it is."

Dani nodded looking over the castle and at the trickle of ghosts who had started gathering in the courtyard. Soon many of Danny's ghostly allies, friends, and mentors arrived.

Clockwork appeared first, greeting the halfas them with a nod. "Prince Daniel. Princess Danielle."

Dani turned to the older halfa wide eyed. "I'm a princess now?! Sweet!"

Danny rolled his eyes. Well at least one of them was happy about their royal status. After nodding, he turned his attention to Clockwork. "I'm doing the right thing, right? Asking the ghosts to back off until I'm ready."

The Master of Time placed a hand on the halfa's arm. "All is as it should be, young Phantom."

Despite the crypticness of the statement, Danny sighed, comforted by his mentor's words. He relaxed more as other mentors appeared: Frostbite and a delegation of yetis, Pandora and a trope of Greek warriors, Dora with her knights. After he summoned a stage and podium ( Pariah's…Phantom's keep was his to shape as a Lair like with any other ghost), his ghostly allies assembled behind him. With his ghostly friends and family at his back, the halfa felt more confident. He was doing something that was both right and necessary. And it would be helping ghosts and humans alike. The young prince smiled at the thought.

Once the crowd had assembled, especially the ghosts that frequent Amity Park, Danny stood behind the podium. Taking a calming breath, he addressed the crowd. "I'm sure all of you are curious about why you're gathered here today. This is about the ghosts who have been… visiting me at college and causing problems. That needs to stop." At the last forceful statement a murmur spread through the crowd, many faces(mostly those who hadn't caused any problems) pale with worry…and possibility fear (?). Danny raised his hands to quiet the crowd. "I know that a lot of you think I'm going to stop travel to the human world to stop this. But that wouldn't be fair to everyone. So I'm gonna lay down some rules."

Several ghosts frowned at that and started murmuring again. From his place in the front of the crowd, Technus loudly objected. "You are not king yet, ghost child. You have no authority over us."

Remembering his earlier fight with the ghost. Danny crossed his arms. "One, I'm not a child. And two, while I'm not the king yet, I am the prince."

The technology ghost opened his mouth in interject. "But…"

Now feeling slightly annoyed Danny held up his finger, cutting the him off. "The main reason I haven't taken the title yet is I legally can't until the time of my death. And I'm not dying early to make my claim more 'official'" At the last word, the halfa rolled his eyes, making air quotes. "Not when you guys don't really need a super hands on king right now." He looked back at his assembled allies and advisers. "That's what my advisers and officials are for, to keep order and peace for the time being."

Out the corner of his eye, the halfa saw agreeing nods from his advisers, especially Frostbite. Taking a deep breath, Danny put his hands together, bracing himself. "So rules for entering the human world then. It's pretty simple; you have to obey the laws of wherever you are. So no hurting humans, no stealing." He glared, directing the statement at Technus. "no damaging property." He frowned very deliberately at Johnny 13. "No controlling or brainwashing people." He narrowed his eyes at Ember at the last part who crossed her arms.

"What the hell are we supposed to do for fun then, dipstick?"

Barely resisting the urge to groan, the halfa rolled his eyes, still looking at Ember. "I'm not saying you can't have fun. You can still tour and play music. Just don't actually force people to listen to it." Danny raised his gaze to the rest of the crowd, seeing the Box ghost and the Lunch Lady hand in hand beside Johnny and Kitty. "You can still take your partner on a date." His gaze flickered to Kempler. "You can still make friends with humans, if they'll have you." Finally Danny spread his arms, addressing all the ghosts. "You can enjoy what the human world has to offer… just don't hurt people. Is that really too much to ask?"

The crowd remained quiet for several moments. Then Ember spoke again, voice a challenging tone. "What if we don't follow your rules, your royal highness?"

"Well… Walker would be happy to lock any rule breakers up for a few centuries." He glanced at Walker who smiled smugly. "And if you come after me or someone I love… I might just happen to forget to empty the thermos for a few years."

At that statement, most of the ghosts Danny dealt with frequently swallowed nervously. The halfa grinned in satisfaction. "Oh, and speaking of coming after me, don't seek me out just because you want to fight. Like seriously, I have responsibilities and stuff. I can't just drop everything whenever a random ghost shows up." Danny crossed his arms at the last part, frown deepening.

More murmuring stirred in the crowd. From the front, a young ghost who looked like a ten year old boy coughed, eyes flitting around nervously. He slowly raised his hand and quietly asked. "But.. what if someone needs help?"

Danny's eyes widened. Absently he realized he recognized the boy; he'd helped him get back to the Zone and his parents after wandering through a natural portal. The halfa's face softened as he floated out from behind the podium and off the stage. He meet the boy's eyes and seeing the worry, realized how harsh he had sounded earlier.

Floating until he was within arm's reach of the of the boy, Danny smiled down at him. "I'll always be here to help." He looked over the crowd. "Whether it's saving people from a ghostly beast, or helping a lost child. I can't ignore a cry for help. That's part of my nature, my identity as a ghost."

His smile increased, seeing relief on the faces. Then Danny paused. Taking a breath, his face turned serious. "But… I'm not only a ghost. I'm human too and belong in that world just as much as I do here. I have a life there, friends and family. I have hopes and dreams. I want to have a career where I'm making a difference doing something that I love." His voice turned quiet, eyes flitting down. "I might even want a family of my own someday. I want to live my life while I still have a chance."

He looked up, now sounding more confident. "And that's all I'm asking for, a chance. That you all respect that and let me live."

There was silence for several moments as Danny surveyed the thoughtful expressions on the ghosts in front of him. He desperately hoped they would listen to his appeal. After a while, Danny coughed, breaking the silence. "There's a few more things. After Christmas, I will be making a schedule to spar with anyone who wants to one Saturday a month, since I know many of you actually like fighting me for practice. So we can do that, in a more organized way and make sure no one gets hurt. Also there will be a full transcript of everything I've said today and the rules I've set down posted in the courtyard here and with Walker so anyone can reference that in the future." He paused,surveying the silent crowd for reactions but found the faces neutral. "So… if no one has questions, you are dismissed. See you all at the Truce Party."

With no questions, ghosts started leaving in groups. For a moment, Danny relaxed glad that the speech was over. Then he tensed again, noticing a group of lingering ghosts- Technus, Skulker, The Box Ghost, Johnny, Kitty, Ember and other ghosts who he frequently fought. They whispered among themselves.

Danny had just turned around to talk to his mentors and sister when he heard a call from behind him. "Hey Phantom!"

He whipped around to see Ember crossing her arms and floated to the small group she was standing near. The rockstar frowned. "So I guess we'll listen to you. But…" she jabbed her finger in his chest. " I'm still touring and you can't stop me."

The halfa raised one eyebrow. "As long as you're not brainwashing people or destroying property, I'm not going to try and stop you. I don't get why you haven't tried to do it the moral way before now anyway. You're really talented. A lot of people would definitely want to see you, of their own free will. Just you know, not when it's 30 degrees outside."

To Danny's surprise, her green eyes softened. "You actually think I'm talented?"

Danny's eyes were tempted to widen but he kept his expression neutral, shrugging. "Yeah"

Ember's lips tried to twist into a smile. "Well then. I expect to see you at at least one of my shows, actually enjoying yourself."

Now the corner of Danny's mouth turned up. "Sure thing, Ember."

With a tip of her head, the flaming haired ghost floated off. Danny turned to the other ghosts. "What about you guys?"

Skulker nodded. "I will take up your offer to spar, princeling. A hunter must keep his skills sharp and you are more valuable as a training partner than a hunting prize."

"Really?" Skulker nodded and Danny's eyes brows rose. "How would you feel about working with Walker as a bounty hunter? Catching ghosts causing trouble." At Skulker's questioning look, Danny put on hand in front of him. "Only the strongest, trickiest, and most clever criminals of course. Worthy prey for a hunter as skilled as you are."

Skulker smiled. "That sounds excellent."

"Great! We'll work out the details after the Truce Party."

After Skulker left, Danny talked to the other's one by one and was relieved to find them cooperative. Technus was happy as long as he had technology to work on. The Box Ghost was happy with an abandoned warehouse with lots of boxes. The Lunch Lady was happy making food at a soup kitchen as long as she was given plenty of notice and explanation if the menu changed; she was even considering starting a restaurant in the Zone. Kempler was surprisingly easy; a introduced to Frostbite provided the ghost the community he craved plus a promise to lessons to help him with his powers.

That just left Johnny and Kitty.

"So what about you two?"

After a second, Johnny sighed. " You're not going to get any problems from us, kid."

For a second, Danny wanted to grumble about Johnny calling him a kid again (he looked like he was the same age as them for crying out loud ) but the next words from Kitty cut that thought off cold.

"If anyone knows what it's like to want more time, another chance, it's us."

She looked down her words cut off by some emotion. Johnny continued, taking his girlfriend's hand. "Yeah, neither of us is a big enough jerk to take that from you. So live it up for the rest of us, 'kay?"

Danny's jaw dropped but before he could respond, the two ghosts turned invisible and flew off. Stuck in shock, he barely noticed when Danielle flew up beside him. "Dang, that was heavy. But it looks like everything went well. Right Danny?"

Danny shook his head, dissipating the shock. "Yeah, I think it did." He looked over the now empty courtyard and turned to glance at the still socializing allies, friends, and mentors. "I really think it did."

Dani patted him on the back. "Awesome. So….. do you want to go get milkshakes and then go Christmas shopping? I really need ideas for Jazz."

"Sure. Let's say bye to everyone first."

The younger halfa nodded as the two flew to the other ghosts. Both halfas hugged many of the assembled ghosts, one at a time. While Dani hugged Frostbite, Danny said goodbye to Clockwork.

The older ghost wrapped his arms around the halfa. "I'm very proud of you, Daniel."

Danny smiled at his mentor's comforting words, finally feeling like everything would be okay. "Thanks Clockwork."

After he pulled away, Frostbite also swept him up in a hug, so Danny joined the group hug with Dani. "Be sure to ask if you ever need anything, Great One. The same goes for you, Little Great One."

Though smiling, Dani muttered. "I'm not that little."

Danny just laughed. "We will Frostbite."

The two halfas pulled away. Realizing they'd said goodbye to everyone, Dani grinned. "You wanna race back to the portal? Last one there buys the shakes!" She yelled, already flying away.

"Dani! Wait!" He shouted back, taking off while waving at his allies as they departed.

He grinned, following his sister and realizing for the first time in a while he felt hopeful. With his friends and family to help him and a new understanding with the ghosts, things were going to be better. He looked over the swirling ectoplasmic clouds; they remained him of nebulas, stellar nurseries in the depths of space. For the first time in months, his dreams and the stars felt within reach.


End file.
